The 5 best places to get a burger

A high-stakes affair. By David Godwin

30 Mar 2017

Thursday 30 March 2017

You might not think a burger is posh, but you'd be wrong. Sloanes of all shapes and sizes will happily embrace a burger's rejuvenating qualities, and pretty much every restaurant, from Mayfair to Soho and Chelsea to Shoreditch, has its own take. It's the new prawn cocktail, the latest sticky toffee pudding. In this oversaturated (fat) field, it can be hard to distinguish the good from the bad. But fear not: we've put in the legwork and found the best burgers in town.

Homeburger

Alberto Romano

With the rise of home food-delivery companies like Just Eat, Hungry House and Deliveroo, it has never been easier to put off cooking and have someone else do the hard work for you. But a quandary always presents itself with delivery food. Will it be hot? Will it disintegrate en route? Homeburger have addressed these questions and we are very pleased with their answers. Based on Holloway Road, they have spent an untold amount of time perfecting their packaging to ensure everything arrives safely. The burgers are named after various dwellings: the classic Home burger is a delight - beef patty, fried-onion relish, pickles, tomato, baby-gem lettuce, Home sauce - but we'd suggest pushing the boat out and trying the Cave (with Stilton, chilli mayonnaise and bacon) or the Bacon Bungalow with cheese. Not in Home Burger's delivery catchment area? Dont worry - it's not far from the Tube. Or you could cycle. Yes, cycle - you'll need to shed some pounds before you take on those triple-cooked chips. Is it legal to cook something that many times? Apparently so. Are we sorry we had two portions and stole a few from our friend's plate? Obviously not.

Advertisement

The Vurger Co

Jen Masters

A good burger is the perfect handheld indulgence. But while it might be good for your mental health, its effect on your waistline leaves a lot to be desired. But who wants to be that person who asks for a veggie burger on a night out? This was something we used to worry about. But that was before Vurger - an amalgam of vegan and burger - came on the scene. The company offers plant-based burgers (all very healthy), such as the Shroomelt - baked mushrooms, lentils, garlic, thyme, vegan cheese, onions. Sides? You could have sweet-potato fries, but we'd recommend Vurger's take on mac 'n' cheese. Carb overload? Meh. When it tastes this good, no one will care or notice. Find them at pop-ups across London, the most recent being the Pillbox Kitchen in Bethnal Green.

Read next

The 24 best restaurants in Covent Garden and the West End

Haché

Paul Winch-Furness

Using a knife and a fork with a burger is like eating sushi with a spoon: just because you can doesn't mean you should. But it's understandable - on some nights, you yearn for a burger where the only thing that oozes is the sophistication, not the filling all over your shirt. When you feel like that, head to upmarket Haché in Chelsea, one of six London locations, and all your meat-juice problems will be solved. Burgers are dished up in either fresh ciabatta or brioche buns and are served with rocket, beef tomato and red onion. Worried it's too refined? Don't be. Order the Steak Louisiana, slurp away on the peanut butter that coats the beef patty and on a vanilla milkshake, and pretend you're in Pulp Fiction.

Advertisement

Tongue 'N Cheek

Ben Monk

As Fergus Henderson at St John Bread and Wine has taught us, when nose-to-tail cooking is done well, it is a culinary wonder. Combine it with fresh vegetables, local-bakery bread, free-range eggs, a wood-fired oven named 'Mafalda' (which roughly translates as 'powerful battler') and a smattering of wordplay and you'll get Tongue 'N Cheek, the pop-up that's been leading from the snout. Oink! They're a nomadic lot, with their base changing depending on the day. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays they'll be in Westminster, and on Saturdays they're based at Brockley Market. On Fridays from 6 April, they'll be at King's Cross and they have a base with Gherkin market near Aldgate. Make sure to check their website beforehand as their dates can fluctuate. Simply put, there's no excuse not to make the trip and try the 'Belly Connection', a meaty extravaganza that combines a beef patty (made up of a 50-50 mix of ox heart and dry-aged beef), braised pork belly, gorgonzola cheese, pickled red onions, pimiento mayo and gem lettuce in a soft bun.

Honest Burgers

Read next

The best Indian restaurants in London

We round up London’s best Indian restaurants

We're not sure what a dishonest burger looks like, but we love the look of Honest Burgers. One glance at their Instagram page and you'll be salivating like the Looney Tunes dog over steak. Across its 20 London locations - including Soho, Camden, Brixton and Old Street - people have gone wild for the company's menu, particularly the special burgers which change every three weeks. Former burgers like the Mad Men channel American culture with Buffalo Trace bourbon barbecue sauce and Monterey Jack cheese, and the Rib Man offers beef, ribs, cheddar, pickles and lettuce dressed in Holy F*** mayonnaise. For good measure, every burger is served with rosemary-salted chips, and you can wash it all down with a local brewery beer. They're also one of the few burger joints in London that do gluten-free buns - if that's your sort of thing.